Minwax - Minwax Antique Oil Finish
Thin finishPops Figure Well
From FWW #245 (January/February 2014)
By Mark Schofield
Street price/qt.: $20
Coats needed – wiping: 3 to 4
Coats needed – brushing: 5
Surface quality – wiping: Good
Surface quality – brushing: Good
Shimmer/depth*: Very good
Figure**: Excellent
Scratch test: Good
Comments: Thin finish builds very slowly, especially when brushed. Pops figure well.
*Tested on cherry
**Tested on curly maple
From FWW #178 (July/August 2005)
By Chris A. Minick
The author tested 15 wipe-on finishes, including a water-based finish and both tung-oil and linseed-oil-based finishes. Pure boiled linseed oil and Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane, a brushing finish, were added for comparison. All the finishes were tested on pieces of red-oak plywood cut from the same sheet. Minwax Antique Oil Finish dried in five hours to a low-gloss sheen with middle-of-the-spectrum color. Its water resistance was poor.
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Comments
There will be significant surface built with between 3 and 5 coats of this stuff and that's not necessarily a look that's popular these days. When you hit three applications, you're going to have to knock it back with steel wool or very fine sandpaper just like any varnish finish or the next application will look horrible. If you're going for that much build, you probably should just start with a more concentrated varnish in the first place, because you'll end up at the same place, but with the Antique Oil you'll have to do a lot more work to get there.
Two applications, at most, then wax will give a low to medium warm sheen and enough 'protection.'
The closer you get to complete protection from water, the more your project will look like something from a factory - again, just not a look that's popular these days.
I've used this for years and with three coats never had a problem with water resistance. Two coats gives a nice dull sheen, additional coats add gloss. You can control it easily with the number of coats. Yes, after two coats you should rough it up with steel wool between coats, but you usually (or should) do this with any hard coat. This is definitely more like wipe-on varnish than like linseed oil.
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